Archive for the ‘Music’

Imagine sitting in the front seats of an amazing performance by Michael Jackson. It’s an easy enough situation for most people to think up. Jackson performances are so iconic to modern society that it might well be in the dictionary. But now imagine that the concert is taking place today. Given that Jackson has passed away this might seem a bit more difficult to conceive of. But thousands of people are still enjoying Jackson concerts. And they’re often even having a chance to talk with him before or after the performance. This might seem impossible at first. But that’s only if one isn’t familiar with MJ impersonator Sergio Cortes.

People unfamiliar with Cortes might raise an eyebrow at the insinuation that anyone could so closely match the King of Pop. But Cortes isn’t just any Jackson impersonator. To a huge number of people he’s the most accomplished Jackson impersonator in the world. It may well be that he’s also the single most accomplished celebrity impersonator of all time as well.

The age at which he began his career is probably one of the biggest factors, right along with his physical resemblance to Jackson. And of course the two items are directly related to each other. Cortes began working on impersonations of Jackson when he was still just a child. It all began when he and his mother were watching TV. A performance by the Jackson 5 came on. It took no time at all for his mother to draw back in shock at what she saw. In front of her she saw her son, and she was also looking at a mirror image of him on TV. The young Cortes and the young Jackson looked almost identical. This prompted Cortes to learn some of Jackson’s mannerisms to amuse his classmates.

But as time passed Cortes continued to look more and more like Jackson. Eventually even reporters would begin to notice the resemblance. This prompted him to take his impersonations more as a way of honoring Jackson than as a minor amusement. He began to learn to sing and to dance. To emulate Jackson’s style of dress and the way he interacted with the public. Eventually Sergio Cortes wound up being able to craft such an amazing reproduction of Jackson’s entire being that it was difficult to tell the two men apart. And since then he’s continued to exemplify something truly amazing. Two men at the height of artistic talent, Jackson and Cortes. A true living legacy to the King of Pop himself.